Review: Western 'Forsaken' Starring Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Brian Cox, Demi Moore, And More

A natural born gunslinger’s futile attempt at redemption, only to be pulled back into violence due to inevitable circumstances, is such a common trope in westerns that it would be easier to count the number of genre examples that don’t exploit it. One of the best films centered around this theme is “Unforgiven,” yet it would be unfair to compare any new similar feature to Clint Eastwood’s genre-bending masterpiece, since only a handful of movies are as good, especially when it comes to pitch perfect screenplays.

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“Forsaken” follows the “gunslinger with a violent past looking for a peaceful future” template so closely that even the protagonist’s name, John Henry (Kiefer Sutherland), is exactly the name you’d expect that character to have in a western like this. Even though it doesn’t offer an altogether fresh voice for the genre, “Forsaken” does an admirable job of executing a base western template. Loyal fans of the...